Trials
by blackdragonhellfire
Summary: After the Battle of Endor, Luke tells his friends a story about family, curiosity, and bravery. And breaking out of prison, of course.


**For planningconquest on Ao3 for Silver Daye's Star Wars Secret Santa Event 2019. Also on Ao3! Enjoy!**

* * *

Luke sipped slowly at his cup of Blue Milk, paying no heed to the party around him, but basking in the comfort of having his friends close by. It was nice, just being there and relaxing, if only for a little while.

Someone sat down next to him and leaned back into the wicker chair, plopping their feet up on the table.

"Heya, kid," Han said from beside him. "How're you doing?"

"Fine," Luke replied, looking up at him. "You?"

"Oh, great as usual. And, by the way, your sister's going to kill me."

Honestly, Han could barely believe they were even related in the first place, Luke and Leia were so different. They didn't even look alike, for kriff's sake! But now that he knew, he could see the resemblance, the way they fought as hard as they could for what they believed in, the kindness in their hearts, the steel in their glares.

Luke sighed good-naturedly, shaking his head.

"What'd you do this time, Han?"

Han threw his hands up into the air.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"You _ do _ know_, _ Han," a voice said from behind them.

Leia Organa sat down in between Luke and Han, sipping primly at a cup of Ardees.

"What'd I do?" Han asked.

Leia glared at him.

"Seriously, what did I do?"

Luke snorted.

"It's not fucking funny, farm boy!"

Luke coughed into his hand, covering up his laughter.

"Sorry, Han. Couldn't you just ask her what's wrong?"

"_She_ is right here," Leia responded, "And what makes you think I'm mad?"

"I dunno," responded Han, "The death glares?"

Leia huffed.

"I'm not mad."

"Oh, sure you are!"

"I'm _ not._"

"She isn't mad," Luke interrupted. "Really."

Leia glared at him.

Han sighed, and leaned back into the couch.

"Sure she isn't. What else would all the scowling be for?"

Luke sighed.

"Okay, fine! She is a bit mad. But not too mad. Only a bit mad."

"Very mad," Leia interrupted, crossing her arms.

Han gulped, and put his hands up in surrender.

"Fine, fine! I'm sorry!"

Leia rolled her eyes.

"How can you be sorry if you have no idea what you did?" she retorted, glaring at Han.

Luke sighed.

"Guys, guys, it's okay, okay? Please don't fight, it's supposed to be a party. I mean, we defeated the Empire and all that, right?"

Han sighed.

"I _ hate _ parties like this."

Leia sighed.

"We only defeated the Emperor, Luke." Leia replied solemnly, "The Empire is still out there, waiting to piece itself back together."

"That's true," Han said, "And we'll deal with it as soon as this party business is all over, and when we're off this stupid planet full of fluffy… whatever they are."

"They're called Ewoks," Luke said softly, but Han ignored him.

"Can anyone get me some of that Corellian brandy, already? I'm parched."

Leia glared at him, and then rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll be your serving girl for two seconds. Next time, you're getting your own drink, buster. Got it?"

Han nodded fearfully, and Leia stormed off to the bar.

Han sighed and shook his head.

"Hey, kid. You never did tell me…"

"Tell you what, Han?"

Han looked at him with concern.

"What the hell happened when I was frozen? I mean, I come back and you're almost a completely different person. Like you're still all farmboy-ish and gooey and nice and stuff but… something changed."

Luke sighed.

"I guess I figured out some stuff. Things I should have figured out years and years ago."

Han gave him a look.

"I figured that out. But there was something else, wasn't there?"

Luke was about to reply when Leia returned, drink in hand.

Han swiped the drink from her hand, and took a big gulp, sighing contently.

"Ah, that hit the spot. So, you were gonna tell me what happened?"

"What happened what?" Leia asked.

"What happened to this idiot when I was frozen away in carbonite land, of course!"

Leia looked at Luke, concerned.

"What if he doesn't want to tell you, Han?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

Leia sighed, and sat back down.

"Although, I'm still curious too, Luke," she replied, "You never told me what happened that one week when you were gone on that mission to Naboo. I've wondered ever since you came back..."

Luke sighed, and looked away.

"Well, it's a bit of a story, you know. "

"Oh, you've got to tell us this, kid. Every time you say that, something always happens."

Luke sighed again.

"Fine. You see," he started, "I was trying to find some things out about my mother, because I had gotten a hint from Mon Mothma about who she was, and…"

* * *

_ The gravestone was, in a few words, hauntingly beautiful. Black stone glinted in the dim light of the crypt. Flowers upon flowers sat at the bottom of the grave, the words of her admirers on cards besides them. It was obvious to him that she was a beloved queen, and a beloved senator. _

_ Luke stood in front of the gravestone, thinking. _

_ Padme Amidala. Senator. Queen. Defender of democracy and freedom, according to Mon Mothma. The heads of the Alliance had all told him about how she defended the Republic, even in its dying days. _

_ What would she have to do with Vader? And why? _

_ Luke sighed, and looked at his feet. _

_ He had so many questions. _

_ Why did his parents fall in love? Were they even in love at all? He honestly couldn't answer that one. After all, there was no way Senator Padme Amidala would approve of the militaristic, dictatorial ideas Darth Vader held close to his heart. _

_ But Darth Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Maverick. The Hero with No Fear, if the old Clone Wars stuff some of his fellow pilots had to say was to be believed. So maybe he wasn't always so… so… _

_ Luke sat down, his mind racing in circles. _

_ He needed to calm down, and think. To find the truth about his family and himself. _

_ Luke breathed in… and out. In… and out, just as Yoda had taught him. _

_ In...and out. He could hear his own breaths as clear as day… _

_ Except that it wasn't his breathing that he was hearing. _

_ He shot up, and put a hand on his blaster, preparing to draw it, when something intangible whipped it from his hand, and across the room. _

_ Darth Vader stood at the entrance to the tomb, in all of his glory, cape flitting slightly from the movement of walking in. _

_ The Sith Lord tossed Luke's blaster by his feet. _

_ Luke backed towards the grave as Vader approached him. _

_ "You cannot keep running forever, young one." The Sith Lord intoned. _

_ Luke took a deep breath, in a vain attempt to calm himself, and steeled his features. _

_ And then he got an idea. _

_ In a split second, he summoned his blaster back to his hand, aimed at Vader's chest, and shot. _

_ Vader held his hand up, and stopped the blaster bolt in midair. _

What the… _ Luke thought dumbly. _Is that even possible?

_ "It is of no use. Blaster bolts are nothing compared to the will of the force." _

_ Vader stepped to the side, and let the blaster bolt hit the wall. _

_ "And the Force wills you to be by my side." _

_ "Maybe it does," Luke said simply. _

_ Vader's breathing filled the room. _

_ "It compels you to seek out your family. And that is why you are at your mother's grave." _

_ "Yeah," Luke replied, "I guess." _

_ He looked down at his feet. _

_ Vader stepped towards him. _

_ "Come with me, young one." _

_ Luke looked up at him. _

_ He didn't know if he wanted to get to know Vader. Would he get to know the monster, or the man beneath? Was the man beneath even there? _

_ Anakin Skywalker was there, deep in him, Luke decided. He knew that he was there. But how deep? Would Anakin Skywalker ever resurface? _

_ Luke knew that he didn't want to call Vader his father. But the truth was that Anakin Skywalker was his father, and Anakin Skywalker was hidden somewhere beneath that mask. Whatever part of Vader that compelled him to keep chasing after Luke must have originated from whatever familial attachment the man still kept in his heart. _

_ "Why?" Luke asked. _

_ Vader's remained silent, and clenched his fist. _

_ "Why?" Luke asked again. "Why do you want me so badly, now? I've always wanted to get to know my father. So why now?" _

_ Tears leaked from his eyes. _

_ "I didn't know you existed, young one." Vader said, rage evident in his voice. "That fool Kenobi concealed your presence from me." _

_ Luke looked up at him, eyes wet, conflict evident inside his heart. Ben had helped him so much, had made him aware of his heritage. But Luke didn't know if he could truly forgive him for not telling him the truth. _

_ Vader looked back at him, and they remained in stony silence. _

* * *

"So you made a really stupid mission to the Emperor's home planet to find your mother or something and Vader tracked you there and captured you." Han interrupted, incredulous.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Leia sighed, put her hand on his shoulder.

"I should have gone with you," she said, looking into his eyes, "You should have had some backup against _ him, _ Luke_._"

Luke put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, that probably would have been a good idea," Luke replied, "But you were grieving, Leia, and I didn't want to disturb you."

Leia gave him a look.

"That's not an excuse! I still should have _ gone_."

Luke sighed.

"Dwelling on what-ifs and has-beens doesn't do anything, Leia."

Leia sighed. Luke knew that she knew he was right.

"And besides, I got out, didn't I?"

Han waved his hand.

"Come on, kid. What happened happened. But what I'd like to know is how in kriffing hell you managed to get out of that situation!"

Luke chuckled.

"Oh, Han."

"What?"

Luke smiled at him.

"What?" Han repeated.

Luke shook his head.

"Never mind."

He waved his hand.

"So I surrendered and Vader took me to the Imperial Base on Naboo…"

* * *

_ Luke hated cell cots. They were always hard and stiff, but he assumed that was what they were going for. It was an Imperial Prison, not a luxury resort, after all. Did he really have any right to complain? _

_ A slot in the door opened, and a tray of food was slid through. _

_ Luke, noticing the grumbling of his stomach, took the tray, and ate the food that was on it voraciously. He knew that a hunger strike would only end badly for him here, and he had no desire to start one in the first place. _

_ He had wanted to talk to his father, right? To see what he was like, and if there was any remnant of good in him. To ask all sorts of questions about his family. Had he loved his mother? Why did he turn to the dark side? _

_ He had so much to ask. _

_ And now, he had time to ask it. But, he also had obligations to his friends, especially after what had happened to Han, and the Rebellion, even though they had given him permission to go on a soul-searching mission in the first place. _

_ A soul-searching mission that had only gotten one of their star soldiers imprisoned. _

_ The door slid open, and Darth Vader stood at the entrance to his cell, looking every bit the behemoth he was. _

_ Luke looked at him. _

_ Vader's harsh breaths echoed across the room, filling every corner. _

_ At last, he decided to speak. _

_ "My son," he intoned. _

_ "Father," Luke greeted back, nodding. _

_ "So you accept the true nature of our relationship." _

_ Luke nodded. _

_ "I accept the fact that you were once Anakin Skywalker, Jedi knight-" _

_ "Do not speak that name in my presence again." _

_ Luke looked towards his feet. _

_ "I know there is good in you, Father," Luke insisted, "I can feel it." _

_ "Do not harp about goodness and evil in my presence," Vader replied, "I know more about the subject than you would ever dream of knowing." _

_ Luke looked deep into the soulless eyes of his mask, wondering just what was behind them. _

_ "So you do regret what you've done?" _

_ "Enough of this silly prattle," Vader barked, "I will be taking my leave now. I expect you to be here when I get back, of course." _

_ "Where else would I be?" Luke grumbled. _

_ He could feel Vader's severe look as the man left the cell. _

* * *

"So you had some sort of a talk with Vader?"

"Yeah."

"That wasn't exactly you escaping, you know." Han said.

"I'll get to that in a moment," Luke replied, "So, anyway…"

* * *

_ "Luke Skywalker, right?" _

_ Luke sat up. _

_ A man in orange stood at the entrance to the cell, face covered by some sort of helmet. There was something about this man that stood out to him, but he couldn't exactly tell what. It was something familiar, though, like he had felt a similar sensation before, even if he couldn't place it exactly... _

_ "Come on," the man said, "I'm getting you out of here." _

_ "Huh?" Luke replied, quite eloquently. _

_ He could feel the man roll his eyes at him through the mask. _

_ "Hero of the rebellion, my starry ass-" _

_ Luke couldn't help but be a little offended by that. _

_ "- Look," the man continued. "We've got less than an hour until Vader gets back-" _

_ Luke looked at him. _

_ "Vader's gone?" _

_ "Yes," the man replied, "And if you want to get out of here, you'd better follow me. " _

_ Luke got off of the so-called prison bed, and rolled his tense shoulders, loosening them up. _

_ "Okay then," he said, "Where to?" _

_ "The hangar," the man said, "We can steal a shuttle and get out." _

_ Luke gave him a look. _

_ "Isn't stealing a shuttle a bit risky?" _

_ "Nothing more risky than a typical weekend for me. You coming?" _

_ Luke nodded. _

_ The orange-clad man led him around corners and through random hallways. _

_ "A confusion tactic," he said, when Luke asked about it. "It doesn't really matter how lost we get, honestly, 'cause I'll find the hangar either way." _

_ "How?" _

_ "You'll figure it out. Just trust me," the man replied, smirk evident in his voice. _

_ They kept walking. _

_ Then Luke suddenly felt something ominous fill the air, and then the sound of boots marching filled his ears. _

_ The man in front of him stopped. _

_ "We're gonna have to go the other way," he said, pulling Luke's arm. "C'mon." _

_ They turned around, and started walking back the way they came. _

_ The sound of blaster bolts began to echo throughout the hallway, and one hit the wall in a shower of sparks, narrowly missing Luke's ear. _

_ The man pulled him roughly behind a pillar. _

_ "Here, use this," he said, holding out a blaster, "I'm gonna go in." _

_ Luke looked at him as if he had just tried to eat a womp-rat without cutting it up or skinning it first. _

_ "But that's suicide!" _

_ The man shrugged. _

_ "Hey, I've done it before. Typical weekend, remember?" _

_ Luke nodded weakly. _

_ "Well then, may the Force be with you, I guess." _

_ The man let out a bark of laughter. _

_ "Trust me, it already is!" _

_ He ran into the fray, and that's when Luke placed it, that weird feeling that he had had before... _

_ This man, his rescuer, was most definitely force-sensitive. _

_ Luke lifted up his blaster, and fired a few shots back towards the troopers, being careful not to hit his new companion, but then the man calmly held up his hand, and threw the troopers towards the wall with nothing more than his mind. _

_ Luke smiled at him, and nodded in appreciation. _

_ The man in orange put his arms up, stretching them over his head. _

_ "You ever done that before?" _

_ Luke laughed. _

_ "Well...I know I can, but I haven't really tried, I guess." _

_ "Huh. Well, if all goes as it usually does, you'll probably have a good chance at trying it out today. But for now…" _

_ Luke nodded. _

_ "Yeah." _

_ The man walked off, Luke trailing after him. They ended up side by side, running through the hallways as fast as they could go. _

_ "So, Skywalker..." _

_ "Yeah?" _

_ "Why does Vader want you so badly? Like, I know you're a Jedi, but he never, ever puts alive-only bounties on Jedi, you know." _

_ Luke raised an eyebrow. _

_ "You here to hunt me?" _

_ The man let out a bark of laughter. _

_ "Where's the fun in that? Bounty hunting for pompous imperial koochos isn't exactly my type of fun." _

_ Luke could tell he was telling the truth. _

_ "And prison breaks are?" _

_ "I guess so, but -" _

_ He was about to continue, but they both stopped, sensing danger at the same time. _

_ "We're gonna have to go back towards the gundark's nest," the man said. _

_ "Again?" _

_ "But of course." _

_ They turned around, and ran the other way, armored boots and blaster bolts following their path. _

_ "Man," Luke said, panting, "If only I still had my lightsaber right now…" _

_ "Definitely," the man replied. "You gonna blast 'em?" _

_ Luke smirked. _

_ "You bet." _

_ Luke pulled out his blaster, and shot at the stormtroopers, never missing his mark. The man beside him did the same, pulling out his blaster and shooting as many troopers as he could. _

_ They kept running, and their pursuers fell one by one as they made their way through the base. _

_ "Hangar's this way! Come on." _

_ The man grabbed Luke's arm, and they kept running. _

_ A minute later, they stopped at the hangar door, panting heavily. _

_ "This isn't going to be good," Luke said. _

_ "Why not?" _

_ "There's gotta be at least 50 stormtroopers in there, from what I can sense." Luke replied. "Don't you think this is a bad idea?" _

_ "Eh, we can handle fifty or so. We're freaking force users, for kriff's sake!" _

_ "Yeah, we'd probably be able to handle it if we had lightsabers. But alone?" _

_ The man nodded. _

_ "True. Which is why we're not going to handle it." _

_ "Huh?" _

_ The man turned and looked at the hallway, checking for stray troopers that made it out of the line of fire. _

_ "I was thinking that one of us could pretend to be a stormtrooper…" _

_ "I've tried that once. I'm a little too short." _

_ "Didn't say you were going to do it." _

_ Luke nodded. _

_ "That's true," he replied, "But what about pretending to be officers instead of stormtroopers?" _

_ But then he thought better of himself. _

_ "No, no, too recognizable. So what are we going to do?" _

_ The man perked up. _

_ "I have an idea. And trust me, this one will work." _

* * *

_ "A supply closet? Really?" _

_ The man shrugged. _

_ "It's all I could think of that would actually work." _

_ Luke sighed, and leaned back into the wall. _

_ "This is a really, really bad idea." he whispered. _

_ "Good point," the man whispered back. _

_ Luke looked at him. _

_ "Do you think they're going to check the closets for us?" _

_ "Probably." _

_ "Probably?" Luke whispered back aggressively, "We're both going to get caught!" _

_ "Relax," the man replied, "We'll be out of here before they even can suspect it." _

_ "And what about Vader?" _

_ "What about him?" _

_ "He's going to be back at some point. Will we be able to get out before then?" _

_ "According to my intel, he should be back around 18:00. There's a chronometer in here, right?" _

_ "A chronometer? In a supply closet?" _

_"A comm with_ _a chronometer."_

_ Luke looked around, but before he could get something, a comm unit had gently made its way across the cramped closet and into the man's hands. _

_ "There we go," he said, "It's 16:46. We've got some time." _

_ "Yeah." _

_ "So I guess we'll just sit in here until 17:45?" _

_ "I guess. We're gonna have to be quiet if this is gonna work, though." _

_ The man accentuated his statement by putting his finger to where his lips would be, and then backing in behind a shelf. _

_ Luke sighed softly, and hoped that the time would pass quickly. _

* * *

"So, we're waiting in the supply closet, right? And I'm sitting there, thinking that that guy was crazy for coming up with this plan, but with nothing else to do."

"Huh," Han said. "So this orange guy was a Jedi?"

"I guess…"

"You guess? Didn't you have some sort of weird Jedi heart-to-heart while running from certain death or something?"

"We were escaping a prison, Han. There was no time to get to know him. And, besides…"

"Besides what?"

"He had too much anger in him for him to be a Jedi."

Han scoffed.

"What sort of bullshit is that?"

Luke sighed.

"I didn't come up with the rules. I just follow them."

Han rolled his eyes.

"When you feel like it."

"Yeah, just about. But I respect tradition, nonetheless."

Han raised an eyebrow.

"Even with those rumors about Jedi kidnapping kids back before the Empire took over?"

Luke nodded.

"I don't know if they're true or not. And I guess it's not really my place to find out. But even if they were, I'm going to be better than that. It's our job to fix the mistakes of those before us, right?"

"Whatever," Han replied. "It ain't really my business."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Luke," Leia said, "You said this guy was wearing orange, right?"

"Yeah?"

Leia put her hand on her chin, in deep thought.

"Huh," she replied.

Luke gave her a look.

"What?" she snapped.

"Nothing," Luke replied.

Han gave him a look.

"You know," he asked, "What sort of idiot wears bright orange to a prison break, anyway?"

"I don't know. I mean, I didn't have the time to ask him about his fashion choices."

Han patted his back.

"So, kid," he asked, "Are you gonna keep telling the story?"

"Shouldn't we wait for Leia?"

Leia shook her head.

"I'm fine. Just...thinking."

"Okay," Luke continued, "So then we got out of the supply closet, but…"

* * *

_ Blaster bolts streaked across the hanger in bursts of red as Luke and the man in orange ran towards the nearest ship. _

_ Luke returned fire, and ducked and dodged as best he could, under the circumstances. Meanwhile, the man reached a shuttle, and stopped by it. _

_ "I'm gonna concentrate on getting this thing open from the inside!" he yelled. "Cover me!" _

_ Luke nodded, and ran by the ship, sliding behind the wing of the TIE Fighter next to it and shooting all the while. _

_ However, the stormtroopers saw the weakness in his plan immediately, surrounding the side of the TIE Fighter Luke was under, and shooting from the front, where the wings weren't covering him. _

_ Luke kept forgetting that Vader only recruited the best of the best. _

_ He closed his eyes, and thrust out his hand. _

_ The stormtroopers were thrown into the air and onto the floor. _

_ The man, meanwhile, was busy shooting at the stormtroopers around him, unable to concentrate on the task at hand. _

_ Luke similarly threw them to the ground, and got up from his precarious position. _

_ At the same moment, the ship's hatch opened. _

_ "Come on!" the man yelled, and Luke hurried onto the ship after him. _

_ They sat down in the cockpit, and closed the hatch behind them. _

_ "So, what now? They're not going to open the doors for us." Luke asked. _

_ "Now, we wait for Vader's ship to fly in, and then we get the hell out of here." The man replied. _

_ Gunshots barraged the sides of the ship. _

_ "It might be a good idea to put the shields up," the man said. _

_ "Does this even ship have a deflector shield?" _

_ "Probably. Most Imperial ships do, don't they?" _

_ Luke looked around the cockpit for the right switch. _

_ "I've got it. It's on the co-pilot's side." the man said, hitting a switch. _

_ The sounds of the gunshots became much more muffled. _

_ Luke let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. _

_ "Okay, so now we just have to wait for Vader to get here." _

_ The man nodded. _

_ "Yeah." _

_ Luke knew that Vader's arrival was the only way they were going to get out of the hangar, but he also was sure that Vader would do everything in his power to stop his departure, no matter how extreme it was. _

_ "You know," Luke said, "The shields might not hold up for much longer." _

_ The man leaned back into his chair. _

_ "It's only blaster-fire, not cannon or ship fire. We'll be fine." _

_ Luke looked at him. _

_ "It might be a good idea to get into the air anyway, you know." _

_ The man sighed, and then nodded. _

_ "Good thinking. Let's go." _

_ They ran through the pre-flight checks at what seemed like record speed, and the ship lifted into the air, hovering by the door. _

_ "You ready for this?" the man asked. _

_ "Born ready." _

_ The hangar door opened. _

_ "Go! Go! Go!" _

_ Luke turned up the acceleration all the way, and blasted through the door as soon as he got enough space to do so. _

_ But then, all of a sudden, the ship stopped in midair. _

_ "Vader," Luke breathed. _

_ The man turned towards him. _

_ "There's no time," Luke said, "I need to concentrate if I want to get us free from this." _

_ He put his hand to his temple, concentrating hard on Vader's force presence, and dived in. _

_ He emerged at the edge of a raging storm, swirling and threatening to surround him as it tore through the abyss. Luke walked towards it, but not close enough for him to surround him. _

"Father,"_ he called out to Vader through the storm. _

"Son,"_ Vader answered, almost immediately. His voice boomed around Luke, as if he were the storm itself. _"So you are leaving?"

"It's not my destiny to stay. You know that."

"It is your destiny to be at my side," _ Vader replied, _"Why do you insist on denying it?"

_ Luke sighed. _

"Because this isn't my place,"_ he replied, _"It's not my place to oppress people in the name of the Empire, even if it puts me by your side."

"And why not?"_ Vader replied. _"What would be so terrible about it? We could rule the Empire, side by side-"

"I don't want to rule the Empire,"_ Luke shot back. _ "Not if I have to hurt people like you do."

"Then we will change the Empire," _ Vader asserted, _"We will change it and bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy."

"You and I have different definitions of that, Father, and you know it."

"Peace is peace," _ Vader said, " _And I will do whatever it takes to create it."

"Peace isn't the same thing as oppression," _ Luke replied, " _And I will do whatever it takes to fight against your brand of peace, Father. Even if it means fighting against you."

"Then I will have to force you to receive your true destiny."

"It isn't my destiny," _ Luke countered, " _My destiny is to fight for freedom and justice. Not for your warped definition of peace."

"It is your destiny to rule the Empire by my side."

"It may be my destiny," _ Luke replied somberly, " _but you and I both know I won't be happy there."

_ Vader faltered. _

"Why wouldn't you be? You will be cared and provided for, which is more than I can say about your… current provisions."

"I'm never going to be happy working for the Empire."

"It is your destiny, whether you like it or not."

"If it is my destiny…" _ Luke started to reply _.

_ Vader waited for him to speak. _

"If it is my destiny," _ Luke said, " _Then I will never find peace."

"So you would rather fight your war than be at my side."

"I would love to be by your side," _ Luke replied, _"But not like this. Never like this."

"So be it," _ Vader said. _

_ Luke was jolted back to awareness. _

_ The ship started to get pulled back into the hangar, scraping past the door. _

_ "Skywalker!" the man in orange yelled, "Whatever you did really isn't helping!" _

_ "Give me a second!" Luke called back irritably. _

_ He closed his eyes, and returned to the edge of Vader's mindscape. _

"You must let us go, Father," _ Luke called. _

"Never," _ Vader replied. _

_ Luke sighed. _

"I never wanted to do things this way, Father," _ he said, _"But now, I have to."

_ Luke concentrated, and then, with all the force he could muster, dove into the storm that was Vader's mind. _

_ Red rivers of lava surrounded him, and he felt pain, pain like he had never felt before. Betrayal. She had betrayed him, for that arrogant fool Kenobi. _

_ The scene shifted. _

_ He was standing on a veranda by a lake, leaning in to kiss the woman of his dreams. She was so beautiful… _

_ The scene shifted again. _

_ The desert wind whipped at his hair as he flew past another racer, a whoop of triumph escaping his mouth as he realized he was victorious... _

_ Luke gasped as he was booted out of Vader's mind. _

_ The ship jolted, continuing its path outside in it's holder's lapse of concentration. _

_ "Get us out of here!" the man in orange called. _

_ Luke adjusted the settings and revved up the engines all the way, and the ship tore through Naboo's atmosphere with little effort. _

* * *

"So you got out," Han said.

"Of course he got out, Han," Leia shot back, "This isn't the first stupid stunt he's pulled like this. What were you thinking, Luke?"

Luke looked up at the starry sky.

"Just about how badly I wished that I knew my father better. That's all."


End file.
